This particular game, however, marked a new milestone for the superstar. It was LeBron’s 74th game with at least 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists, breaking a tie with Michael Jordan for the most such games in NBA postseason history. Take a look at the new top five in this graphic from ESPN’s broadcast (via @BeyondTheBuzzer):
While topping Jordan is unlikely to change minds in the long-held debate regarding LeBron’s place among the greatest players of all-time, a comparison of the stats does show just how versatile James has been in the postseason. MJ achieved his 73 performances in 179 career playoff games, or 40.8 percent. LeBron, however, now has 74 in 151 games, or 49 percent. He’s been eyeing Jordan’s record for nearly two years — he matched Bird’s 53 on June 1, 2012, against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. It was a foregone conclusion, though the speed with which James achieved this mark is no less stunning for it.
Historic single-game stats are not widely available, so it’s as yet unclear exactly where LeBron ranks on the all-time regular-season list of 25/5/5 performances. However, he is one of four players in history to average that mark for a career (alongside Jordan, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson) and has done so in 378 of his 842 games, or 44.9 percent. So, LeBron actually does it more often in the postseason, when his play matters most. That stat might not be the best mark of his clutch heroics, but it’s not meaningless.
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